


I think I've broken something

by Rainbow_Trout



Series: Whumptober 2020 [12]
Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Broken Bones, Car Accidents, Gen, Whumptober 2020, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27127559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbow_Trout/pseuds/Rainbow_Trout
Summary: Whumptober 2020 - Day twelve - broken bones
Relationships: Matthew Casey & Kelly Severide
Series: Whumptober 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953733
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	I think I've broken something

Matthew Casey was, in every sense of the world, a stand-up guy. He wasn’t afraid to go above and beyond to protect and serve, and that went for everyone. Random strangers, his fifty-one family, or anybody he crossed paths with could trust him to help if they needed it.

And that went from the bigger things, like doing construction repairs for a family in need without any expectation for payment, to the smaller ones, like making sure that everyone got their coffee order correctly.

And yes, that included taking his furlough at the most unpopular times.

Which is how he ended up here, on a seemingly random Tuesday, car turned on its side and half-buried in the snow. It hadn’t been his fault that he’d spun out off the road, he’d been dodging a car driving in the wrong lane, but while he’d been stuck, the other car had driven off, leaving him alone.

Alone, and in pain.

Because _fuck_ did his leg hurt, and that wasn’t helped by how cold it was. His breath was condensing the air in front of him, and his entire body had started to shiver. Shivering which didn’t help the pain in his leg…

He knew that he had to call for help, no matter how good he was at firefighting, he couldn’t get himself out. But he simply couldn’t reach his phone, so he was stuck as he waited, silently hoping that someone found him soon because he could barely feel his fingers and he was in pain and _scared._

After what felt like ages, there was a desperate banging at his window, and Casey painfully turned his head to see what was happening. A young lady was staring at him, eyes wide, phone already pressed to her ear. Her lips were moving, but Casey couldn’t hear her through the glass, nor the buzzing in his ears. He instead watched numbly as she looked up and down his body, before her eyes fell on his lower half, and she pressed a hand to her mouth and screamed.

Okay, so _not_ good about his legs.

She disappeared from his view, and Casey turned his head back to the front, keeping his eyes open to retain consciousness. The agony in his leg was so bad that he could barely feel the rest of his body, and he knew that he had to worry about other internal injuries. He had no idea what those were and losing consciousness could be bad.

What felt like ages passed again – which in reality was only a few minutes – before his ears picked up the sound of sirens. His heart skipped a beat. Help was coming. Which was absolutely amazing.

He couldn’t see much from his position, but before too long the bottoms of overly familiar pants came into view. Pants, and boots. And even though he could only see the base… well, he knew that walk anywhere.

Kelly.

His thoughts were confirmed only moments later when the legs knelt down, before Kelly’s concerned face was peering in. At seeing his friend awake, Severide did his best to force a smile – one which he hoped was reassuring.

His lips moved, and even though Casey couldn’t hear him, he could recognise the words.

_Don’t worry, Case. We got you._

Casey tried to relax at that, sluggish mind watching as Severide stood back up. He knew that his brother had to work, but he still wished that he could see his face again. Instead, he tried to imagine him doing his job, years of memories from accident scenes being more than adequate to keep him going.

He was so engrossed in his head, that he didn’t even realise how fast his brothers had been moving, and he was startled back to awareness at the sound of glass shattering. Realising that they’d just taken out his back window, he groggily turned towards the sound, watching as a smiling Capp crawled through the space, “Hey, Cap- _tain_ , just here to keep you looking good…”

His mind didn’t entirely process Capp’s words, but his actions soon explained them. Capp shifted around until he was holding a thick blanket over his face, giving a gesture to Severide as soon as he was satisfied it was covering his friend, “We’re going to smash your windshield, Captain. Then we can get you out of here…”

Casey nodded, or at least he thought he did, and closed his eyes instinctively as he heard more shattering glass. He didn’t move until he could feel Capp shifting, shaking the blanket out before removing it from his body.

“He’s in shock.”

Capp’s words had been quiet, directed at Severide. Casey did his best to hear the squad Lieutenant’s response, but he couldn’t understand his words, feeling useless as he sat there and waited for more information to be directed at him. He certainly wasn’t used to playing the victim, and he couldn’t say that he enjoyed it.

There was more shifting beside him, and then Severide was rubbing his sternum, smiling down at him as he waited for a response, “Hey, bud. How are you doing?”

Casey blinked, confused by Severide’s words, before slurring, “Mmm yeah… m'doing…”

Kelly grinned, eyes glimmering as he gestured to Brett, grateful that Casey was still able to respond, “That’s good, bud… we’re gonna move you, soon. Get you out of here… though, we might give you some pain meds, first…”

Those words reminded him of the horrible pain in his leg, and Casey nodded marginally, “Oh, yeah… I think… I might’ve broken… something… my leg.”

A puff of air left Kelly’s nose as he snorted, doing the best to be jovial as he looked down at his friend, “You think? Yeah, it does look broken, bud. But don’t worry. We’re getting you out of here.”

 _Looks broken?_ That had to be a bad thing, and Casey found himself shifting as he tried to get a look at it.

Quickly, Kelly’s hand came to his chest, lightly pushing him back down, “Nah, don’t worry, bud. You don’t need to see it… point is we’re getting you out.”

Casey blinked, before understanding, but that did nothing to abate his worry, “Don’t look… bad, then?”

Severide paused, glancing back down at Casey’s leg as he weighed up his answer. It _was_ bad. The lower half of Casey’s leg had a clear bend in it, and part of his tibia was poking through his jeans, staining them red. But Casey was already in shock and he didn’t want it to get worse, “It’s definitely broken… but I’ve seen worse. Nothing that med can’t fix. Now how are your fingers, can you feel them?”

Mind clouding up again, Casey nodded, flexing his fingers in response. Kelly smiled again, before pulling away, “Alright. Brett’s just gonna come in here and fix you up with some meds… then we’ll get you on a backboard. It’ll be fine soon, bud. Don’t worry.”

Nodding again, Casey waited as Severide shifted beside him, climbing backwards through the windscreen. He was proud of Severide for that, knowing that he’d come in first to make sure that it was safe for the paramedics, and then done as much as he was qualified to do to minimise their time with him. He’d have done the same thing, and he hoped that he could remember to commend Kelly for it later.

The next thing he knew, Brett’s slight body was pressed up against his, her bright and bubbly voice penetrating his thoughts, “Hey, Matt. How are you going? Gonna get an IV in you, just a little scratch.”

Nodding yet again – and wondering if victims all felt this useless – Casey tried to relax at the feel of her cool hands on him, wiping down the back of his hand as she prepared an IV. He could barely feel the needle entering his body, before Brett was taping it down, “Okay, Matt. I’m going to give you some painkillers now, just morphine… it should help with the pain. Then we’ll get you out and get you some fluids. Sound good?”

“Mmmm, yeah… good…”

He heard Brett chuckling, and then she was taking his IV, tugging it as she inserted the needle, “Okay, they should start to kick in now, Matt… just try to relax.”

And relax he did, because that’s what morphine did. Involuntarily, he felt himself melt into the seat, the pain fading to the back of his mind.

“Alright, Matt… I’m going to back out now, I’ll see you in the ambulance.”

This time, Matt made no effort to respond, because frankly he no longer had the energy. Not that Brett minded as she crawled back out of the car, knowing that Casey’s extraction was now up to the squad and the other firefighters.

They made quick work of extracting him, the blonde being so drugged and tired that he didn’t even register much of it. He _did_ register when they secured his leg, though, being unable to prevent the screams that left his lips. But no one said anything, Severide just rubbing his shoulder until he’d stopped and they could secure a mask over his face. They then got him into the ambulance, Brett jumping in beside him and rubbing his shoulder, “You’re going to be okay, Casey. We’ve got you.”

* * *

Less than an hour later, all of fifty-one descended into the waiting room, eager to get news on their brother. Despite being in shock, having hypothermia, and his leg being badly broken, Casey’s vitals had been strong in the ambulance, and no one was particularly worried about his recovery. But they were still a family, and family always waited for one another.

It didn’t take too long for Halstead to enter, the man smiling reassuringly, “Casey’s perfectly fine. He’s going to need surgery to pin his leg, but for now we’ve reduced it. Once the swelling is gone down, we’ll be able to take him in, and he should make a full recovery with physiotherapy. He was in shock when he came in, but we’ve treated it. He’s also warming back up and should be fine regarding his hypothermia soon.”

Everyone let out a collective breath of relief, glad for the confirmation that Casey was going to be okay. Halstead smiled at their reactions, before stating, “He’s awake – a little disorientated because of the pain meds, but he’s aware. Kelly, you’re his medical proxy…”

* * *

Severide was silent as he entered the room, making his way over to Casey’s bed. Out in the hallway, Halstead had explained that Casey was swaddled in heated blankets, with a warmed IV in his arm. He was also on oxygen, though that was more a precaution, and to allow his body to put effort into the more important task of healing. He broken leg was also now casted, propped up to assist with the swelling.

When he entered the room, he was surprised at how comfortable the blonde looked, despite his injuries. Halstead had been right when he’d used the word ‘swaddled’ – because Casey had so many blankets around him that you almost couldn’t see the outline of his body. Other than his leg, that was, and his head poking out of the sheets.

Matt’s eyes were half closed, but they shifted to meet Severide’s as the man moved closer. Kelly grinned, before settling down beside his buddy, “Hey, Case. How are you going?”

Casey blinked, lethargic, before responding, “Mmm… yeah. Warm… good…”

Kelly chuckled, before rubbing his arm through the blankets, “Don’t think it’s possible for you to be cold in all of those blankets, bud… do you need anything? Do you need water?”

Tiredly, Casey shook his head, though in reality it barely shifted against the pillow, “No… no thanks… thanks. I’m okay… not thirsty…”

Smirking at the fact his brother’s guard was entirely down, Kelly rubbed his arm again, before gripping it lightly in support, “And pain, buddy? You in any pain?”

He was, but only a little, and there was no need to worry Severide when he should be going back to shift. So, he shook his head, “Not much… it’s good, Kel. I’m fine… but shoulda been my holiday…”

Doing his best to be sympathetic, Kelly nodded, “I know… I’m sorry about that. Though, you’re getting at least six weeks off now… so, there is that…”

Casey groaned. Six weeks on sick leave wasn’t the same as a holiday, and everyone knew it. Still, there wasn’t any point in complaining. He would do his best to make it work, because there really wasn’t another option, “Ugh… yeah, I know… gonna… dunno, do something that doesn’t need legs…”

Kelly chuckled, watching the way Casey’s body was relaxing into the mattress, “You look like you’re about to fall asleep, bud.”

It was a statement, not a question, but Casey still answered, “Yeah… tired, now.”

Giving his brother a shit-eating grin, Kelly nodded, lightly mocking Casey in a way he knew that blonde wouldn’t take offence, “Have a nap then, buddy. I’ve gotta go back to shift, but you know that I’m on the other end of your cell…”

Getting closer and closer to sleep, Casey nodded, a slight smile adjoining his lips, “Mmmm yeah… an’… than’ for saving me… than’ everyone that…”

Kelly nodded, squeezing Casey’s arm firmly as he stood up. Casey was always there for them, so of course they were going to help him when he needed it, “Yeah, of course, bud.”


End file.
